Quality Microfilm Scanning

For microfilm scanning, Creekside Digital proudly uses USA-manufactured NextScan equipment – the best microfilm scanners in the world. NextScan invented “ribbon scanning,” the process by which a roll of film is scanned in its entirety (including all the spaces between the frames), with quality control being performed by a human operator AFTER the roll is initially captured. We ribbon-scan all the microfilm that we process, which allows us to guarantee that every roll and sheet we digitize is captured 100% completely, and that there are no skipped frames, improperly cropped pages, etc. in the images we deliver to our customers.

The Microfilm Scanning Process

35mm Engineering Drawing

Most microfilm scanners try to output images “on the fly” as the film or fiche passes through the machine. This only gives the scanner a single opportunity to perform its frame detection (the process during which the machine recognizes individual frames on a section of film and segments them into separate image files) as well as other necessary computer-intensive tasks such as deskewing / cropping, sharpening, etc. If there is a change in the density of the film (the difference between the lightest and darkest images), an image may be cut in half by a misfiring frame detection process or even skipped entirely. “Fixing” these types of mistakes requires the identification of a skipped frame (no easy task on a roll containing thousands of images), finding it on the physical roll (even harder), rescanning it properly, and manually inserting / replacing the rescans in the original batch of images – a very time-consuming and expensive proposition, which is why most service bureaus cut corners and don’t do it.

By capturing each roll of microfilm as a contiguous “ribbon” which includes all the empty spaces between the frames on the film as well as the frames themselves, Creekside Digital is able to perform frame detection as many times as required in order to perfectly capture every frame on the roll. Frame boundaries can even by redrawn by the operator by simply dragging them with a mouse. Our operators spend the majority of their time QAing and tweaking images BEFORE they’re output (not after), so there are no mistakes to correct in the final images. We get it right the first time, and guarantee that we correctly capture 100% of the frames on every roll of film sent to us.

Affordable Pricing via the LYRASIS Digitization Collaborative

For nearly five years, Creekside Digital has offered our true preservation-class microfilm scanning services to libraries and other cultural heritage institutions across the United States via the LYRASIS Digitization Collaborative. For one low per-frame price, LYRASIS members receive:

Various options are available on microfilm and microfiche projects, including 2-up splitting, organization of output images by book / issue / volume, and metadata such as METS / ALTO structural XML. For more information regarding Creekside Digital’s preservation-class microfilm scanning services available through the LYRASIS Digitization Collaborative, including pricing and eligibility details, please contact Laurie Gemmill Arp, LYRASIS Director of Digital & Preservation Services, at (800) 999-8558 x2908, or email her at laurie.arp@lyrasis.org.